In a hospital setting, when a situation arises, where a person in distress (i.e., a "patient") requires emergency treatment (i.e., and "emergency"), the doctor attending the patient must first evaluate the patient and determine the cause of the emergency. To do so, the doctor typically examines the patient in a methodical manner: (i) observing the patient's appearance and actions, (ii) if the situation permits, asking the patient and/or others around the patient questions, to obtain an accurate history of the illness, and (iii) performing a number of diagnostic tests such as EKG, blood pressure, pulse, blood gas analysis etc. After conducting the examination, the doctor is able to diagnose the patient's illness and decide upon a course of action (i.e., the treatment), to alleviate the medical emergency the patient is suffering from.
However, emergencies rarely occur in a setting where a doctor is in close physical proximity to the patient. Not uncommonly, emergencies occur at remote locations. Usually a paramedic is the first medical professional to reach the patient. In addition to transporting the patient to a hospital where the patient can be treated by a doctor, the paramedic typically uses a plurality of independent medical diagnostic probes, such as a blood pressure apparatus, stethoscope, and EKG device to perform a quick evaluation of the patient. The paramedic then conveys this information to a doctor so that the doctor can (i) provide the paramedic with treatment instructions, and (ii) prepare the emergency room for the incoming patient. This routine, while being the commonly accepted practice, is somewhat inefficient in that it is relatively time consuming to manipulate all of the different diagnostic probes attached to the patient to generate vital information and accurately read the display and convey the information to the doctor. Usually this is done over a local radio transmitting system, from an ambulance.
Other emergency situations occur where the patient is in a location which is not easily accessible except to persons already in that location. Typically, such situations occur in a plane, a boat, or other remote locations like ski resorts. Often times, constraints, such as budgetary restrictions, or easy access to the location of the emergency situation, limit availability of medical diagnostic equipment. In other circumstances, lack of sufficient population does not merit satisfactory medical diagnostic facilities. If an emergency situation occurs in a boat or plane, the vessel carrying the patient must reach a ground station so that the patient can be treated by a doctor at the base station or transported to a hospital by paramedics. In these cases, inevitably, more time passes before a doctor can evaluate the patient's medical condition and prescribe a course of action.
In most emergency situations, time is of the essence and is the key factor that determines the final outcome. As the passage of time before receiving treatment increases, the chances of successfully treating the patient decreases. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a device and system that could reduce the time element in the evaluation and treatment of the patient. Accordingly, a device and system which could reduce the time for evaluating a patient and transmitting the information gathered to a doctor would be desirable.
Also, it would be desirable to be able to provide a device and system which could be used by non-medical personnel (e.g., a flight attendant) which could enable a remotely located doctor to evaluate a patient and to provide emergency treatment without having to wait for a paramedic or caregiver to arrive.
During emergency situations, time is often expended adjusting the placement of EKG electrodes to take accurate EKG readings. Moreover, even in a non-emergency situation, it is often time consuming to correctly locate the proper placement of EKG electrodes. It would be desirable to provide a device which could be placed directly on the patient's chest and which could expedite the recording of accurate EKG tracings. It would also be desirable to provide a device which is capable of readily obtaining from the patient a plurality of diagnostic information and transmitting them in the shortest amount of time to help facilitate a doctor located far away from the patient to analyze the data and diagnose the emergency condition.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an inexpensive and easy to use device which could (i) quickly and easily gather and transmit from a remote location a plurality of diagnostic information, which includes EKG, Blood Pressure, Pulse, temperature %O.sub.2 saturation, and heart sound monitoring, (ii) provide the ability to allow oral communication with a remote location from a medical command center, (iii) provide emergency initial treatment, and (iv) expedite the eventual transfer of the patient to the nearest medical center.
It would also be desirable to provide a device and a system which could convey all the diagnostic information mentioned above, and have the capability to recognize life threatening heart irregularities and have the ability to instantaneously defibrillate a patient.